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McConnell targeted by Kentucky tea partyers

More than a dozen tea party groups in Kentucky have united to try to oust Sen. Mitch McConnell in the 2014 Republican primary, arguing that he is too moderate and has only "paid lip service" to their cause.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- More than a dozen tea party groups in Kentucky have united to try to oust Sen. Mitch McConnell in the 2014 Republican primary, arguing that he is too moderate and has only "paid lip service" to their cause.

The United Tea Party of Kentucky, comprised of 17 smaller tea party and "patriot" groups around the state, signed a press release this week promising to oppose McConnell.

"We're looking right now at anybody that has a possibility of retiring Senator McConnell," said John T. Kemper III, the group's spokesman.

But the Louisville Tea Party has decided not to join the effort, its leaders saying they are worried that the group couldn't field a candidate strong enough to win the November general election.

Other than Kemper, who says he is considering a campaign, no potential challengers have come forward publicly.

Kemper, a 2011 candidate for state auditor, said the tea party groups believe that McConnell's record — dating to his time as Jefferson County judge-executive from 1978 through 1984 — makes him a moderate rather than a conservative.

The tea party and McConnell have had a strained relationship since the organizations sprang up around the country in the weeks after President Barack Obama was sworn in for his first term four years ago.

While the groups' harshest rhetoric has been directed at Obama and Democrats, the tea party has also been critical of Republicans who have voted for increasing federal debt, backed the Troubled Asset Relief Program, raised the debt ceiling and done other things anathema to the fiscally conservative organizations.

Kemper pointed to McConnell's role in a recent deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" as a reason to oppose him. One problem, Kemper said, is that the deal gives millions of dollars worth of tax breaks to businesses that he said don't need the money.

"Does NASCAR really need that kind of money?" he asked. "Those things were all crammed in there and nobody knew about them until it was done."

McConnell has been sending staff members to tea party meetings around the state and more recently hired Benton, who is married to the granddaughter of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a tea party icon. Benton ran Paul's 2012 presidential campaign and Sen. Rand Paul's 2010 general election campaign.

In its press release, the United Tea Party accused McConnell of "co-opting" the tea party for his own purposes.

"The message from our members, reflected in our words and our actions, are derived solely from our membership and are not for sale or rent to politicians seeking re-election," the press release says.

Kemper said tea party groups haven't objected to McConnell staffers attending their events but see them as "information gatherers" for the senator.

And Kemper said tea party members believe Benton's hiring was nothing more than pandering for their support — and they aren't that impressed with Benton anyway.

"What I tell people is, 'If Jesse does for Mitch McConnell what he did for Ron Paul, then we're all in good shape,' " he said.

Beyond Kemper, it is unclear if any other tea party members will come forward to challenge McConnell.

Phil Moffett, a tea party candidate who got 38 percent of the vote in the 2011 Republican gubernatorial primary against then-Senate President David Williams despite raising little money, said he has "zero interest" in running for a federal office.

He added that people may not be coming forward to run because of the amount of money it would take to beat the most powerful Republican in the U.S. Senate.

McConnell, who spent $21.3 million running for re-election in 2008, has already banked $6.9 million for the election.

"If someone was to run against McConnell, they'd have to self-fund and that is just really difficult," he said. "There's hardly a cap on how much money Sen. McConnell could raise and that is hard to beat."